AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Study Course – Pass the Exam With This Free 14-Hour Course

As a full-stack developer, I know first-hand how valuable cloud computing skills are in today‘s job market. More and more companies are migrating their infrastructure and applications to the cloud, driving up demand for developers and IT professionals who can design, deploy, and manage cloud solutions. And with Amazon Web Services (AWS) controlling a third of the cloud infrastructure market, the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification is a smart way to validate your skills and stand out to employers.

In this article, I‘ll share my experience preparing for and passing the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam using a comprehensive new study course from ExamPro. Best of all, this course is completely free! I‘ll walk you through what the exam covers, how this 14-hour video course can help you pass, and some bonus tips for acing the exam as a developer. Let‘s get started!

What is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam?

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CCP) is the entry-level certification offered by Amazon Web Services. It tests your knowledge of core cloud concepts, basic AWS services, security, pricing, and support. While it‘s not as technical as the more advanced AWS certs, it still covers a lot of ground.

According to the official exam guide, the CCP exam includes four domains:

1. Cloud Concepts (26%)
2. Security and Compliance (25%)
3. Technology (33%)
4. Billing and Pricing (16%)

You‘ll have 90 minutes to answer 65 multiple-choice or multiple-response questions. The passing score is 700/1000, or 70%. While there are no prerequisites, AWS recommends having at least six months of experience with the AWS Cloud in any role (technical, managerial, sales, etc.).

Some of the key services and concepts you‘ll need to know for the exam include:

• Benefits and use cases of cloud computing
• Differences between on-premises, hybrid, and cloud hosting models
• AWS global infrastructure and availability zones
• Core services like Amazon EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, RDS, etc.
• Basics of networking, databases, load balancing, and messaging
• AWS shared security model and security best practices
• Fundamentals of AWS IAM, security groups, NACLs, and network security
• Different AWS pricing models, billing, and account management
• How to use the AWS Management Console, CLI, and SDKs

I‘ll be honest – when I first looked at the exam blueprint, I felt pretty overwhelmed. As a developer, I had used some AWS services like EC2 and S3 before, but I was far from an expert. I knew I needed a good study plan to fill in my knowledge gaps and build my confidence. That‘s where this free AWS Cloud Practitioner course comes in!

Overview of the Free 14-Hour AWS Cloud Practitioner Video Course

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Video Course was created by Andrew Brown, a certified AWS instructor and the founder of ExamPro. This 14-hour video course is the most comprehensive free resource I‘ve found to prepare for the CCP exam.

The course includes 12 sections that systematically cover every objective on the exam blueprint:

1. Introduction to the Course and Exam Format
2. Cloud Concepts and Terminology
3. AWS Global Infrastructure and Regions
4. Compute Services (EC2, Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk, ECS)
5. Storage Services (S3, EBS, EFS, Storage Gateway)
6. Database Services (RDS, DynamoDB, Redshift)
7. Networking and Content Delivery (VPC, Route53, CloudFront)
8. Security, Identity & Compliance (IAM, KMS, Shield, WAF)
9. Management & Governance (CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Trusted Advisor)
10. Application Integration and Messaging (SNS, SQS, Kinesis)
11. AWS Pricing, Billing, and Support
12. Practice Exams and Next Steps

For each section, Andrew presents key concepts using slides, diagrams, and live demos in the AWS console. He explains technical terms in plain English and uses real-world analogies to make concepts stick.

One thing I really liked was how Andrew breaks down intimidating topics like IAM and VPC security into understandable components. For example, here‘s how he explains the different levels of network security in a VPC:

"You can think of security groups like a firewall at the instance level, controlling inbound and outbound traffic. Network ACLs, on the other hand, act like a firewall at the subnet level. They provide an additional layer of security."

Throughout the course, Andrew weaves in stories and examples from his own experience as a cloud consultant and solutions architect. He also provides cheat sheets, practice questions, and links to additional resources to reinforce your learning.

Another great feature of this course is the hands-on labs using the AWS Free Tier. For many sections, Andrew shows you how to actually provision and configure AWS services, so you can see how they work in practice.

For example, in the compute section, he walks you through launching an EC2 instance, ssh-ing into it, and deploying a simple Node.js web server:

$ aws ec2 run-instances --image-id ami-0c55b159cbfafe1f0 --instance-type t2.micro --key-name MyKeyPair

$ ssh -i "MyKeyPair.pem" [email protected]

$ sudo yum install -y gcc-c++ make
$ curl -sL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_14.x | sudo -E bash -
$ sudo yum install -y nodejs
$ npx create-react-app my-app
$ cd my-app
$ npm start

Following along with these demos really cemented my understanding of core AWS services. Plus, I loved geeking out over the CLI commands and scripts Andrew sprinkles throughout the course!

Of course, you don‘t have to complete the labs if you‘re not comfortable with the command line. The course also includes tons of slides, diagrams, and quizzes you can use to prep for the exam without touching the AWS console.

Is the Free AWS Course Enough to Pass the Exam?

Now for the million dollar question – is this free AWS course really enough to pass the Cloud Practitioner exam?

In my experience – absolutely! After going through the video lessons, taking notes, and completing the practice exams, I felt fully prepared. I ended up scoring an 837/1000 on my first attempt. I was thrilled!

That said, I think it‘s important to be realistic about the exam difficulty and the study time required. While the CCP is an entry-level exam, it still covers a LOT of information. AWS recommends 6-12 months of experience with the AWS Cloud, in any role. For developers, you should be comfortable with:

• Basic networking concepts like IPv4, TCP/IP, DNS, firewalls
• Different types of databases and storage options
• Serverless, containers, and microservices architectures
• General security threats and best practices in the cloud
• Navigating the AWS console and using simple CLI commands

If you have minimal cloud experience, I‘d budget at least 2-4 weeks of consistent study time before sitting for the exam. You‘ll want to go through the course videos, take good notes, and complete all the practice questions. Don‘t forget to leverage the AWS whitepapers, FAQs, and documentation too – they‘re great for reinforcing concepts.

Another tip – grab an accountability buddy or join a study group to keep you motivated. AWS has a great community forum where you can ask questions and connect with other folks preparing for the exam.

Comparing AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud Certifications

As a developer, you may be wondering how the AWS Cloud Practitioner compares to entry-level certs from other cloud providers. Here‘s a quick rundown:

Cloud Provider	Entry-Level Cert	Exam Format	Experience Required
AWS	Certified Cloud Practitioner	90 min, 65 questions	6-12 months
Microsoft Azure	AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals	85 min, 40-60 questions	None
Google Cloud	Associate Cloud Engineer	2 hours, ~60 questions	6+ months, hands-on

In my opinion, the AWS CCP is the most comprehensive and valuable entry-level cloud cert. It goes deeper into security, networking, and pricing than the Azure and GCP equivalents. It‘s also the most recognized, since AWS still dominates the cloud market.

That said, it‘s useful to have experience with multiple cloud providers as a developer. The core concepts – like regions, storage, databases, security – are similar across platforms. Once you earn your CCP, you‘ll have a strong foundation to learn other cloud technologies as needed.

Next Steps for Developers after the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam

Congrats on starting your AWS certification journey! Earning the CCP badge is a great first step towards a cloud career. But what‘s next?

As a full-stack developer, I‘d recommend diving deeper into the services most relevant to your work. For example, if you build web apps, you‘ll want to get hands-on with:

• Amazon EC2 for virtual machines
• Amazon S3 for object storage
• Amazon RDS or DynamoDB for databases
• AWS Lambda for serverless compute
• Amazon API Gateway for building APIs
• AWS Amplify for hosting web/mobile apps

You might also explore infrastructure-as-code tools like AWS CloudFormation, AWS CDK, or Terraform to define and provision cloud resources. Containers and container orchestration are other hot skills – check out Amazon ECS, EKS, and Fargate.

The best way to solidify your skills is to build! Here are some AWS project ideas to add to your portfolio:

• Deploy a CRUD web app using Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
• Build a serverless REST API with Node.js, Express, and Lambda
• Create a static website using S3, CloudFront, and Route53
• Set up a CI/CD pipeline for an app using AWS CodePipeline
• Deploy a machine learning model using Amazon SageMaker

Remember, you have a whole year of free access to many AWS services in the Free Tier. Use it to experiment, break things, and learn by doing. The hands-on experience will be invaluable in your next job search or promotion discussion.

If you want to take your AWS knowledge to the next level, check out the more advanced AWS certifications like Developer Associate, SysOps Administrator, or Solutions Architect. The ExamPro course is a great stepping stone to more focused role-based training.

Wrap Up and Next Steps

I hope this article has shown you that passing the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam is totally achievable, even as a busy developer. With the free 14-hour ExamPro course, you have everything you need to master the exam topics and earn that shiny new cert.

But don‘t just take my word for it! Check out these reviews from other developers who passed using this course:

"I passed the CCP exam with a score of 812/1000 after using this course as my primary study tool. The lectures were thorough and the labs were challenging but rewarding. Thanks Andrew and ExamPro!" – Jessica, Software Engineer

"As someone who failed the exam before using poor study material, I can‘t recommend this course enough. Andrew does an excellent job breaking things down step-by-step. The best part is you can study on the go since it‘s on YouTube." – Mark, IT Manager

"I just passed the AWS CCP with 922/1000! I had no prior IT or cloud experience but I was able to get certified in 3 weeks with this course. I feel well prepared to dive into an AWS Associates level certification next." – Shree, Developer

So what are you waiting for? Start learning AWS today and open up a whole new world of career opportunities. You can find the full AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Video Course on the ExamPro YouTube channel.

If you have any questions or want to connect, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @SoftwareDevElena. Happy learning!